Holidaymakers CAN stay all year round at Waterside Park
Up until now only parts of the site could be occupied 12 months of the year
Year-round holidays are to be allowed throughout the Waterside Park at Bowleaze Coveway.
Until now only parts of the site could be occupied for 12 months with other areas having to close from mid-January to March 1st.
An area planning committee on Thursday unanimously backed ending the closed period.
Owermoigne councillor Nick Ireland said to do otherwise would be “silly.” He said it had to be accepted that some people would stay for months on end and it would be impossible to put a stop to that.
Chickerell councillor Jean Dunseith had tried to persuade the committee to impose a maximum length of stay of three months, but failed to win support.
Portland councillor Paul Kimber welcomed the year-round decision saying it was a small, but important step, to the former borough council’s vision of the area being a year-round destination.
Wyke Regis councillor Kate Wheller said that with the cost of a 2-3 bed mobile home on the site cheaper than a one-bed flat in Weymouth it would be inevitable that people would try and live there year-round, but it was up to the park owners to enforce the conditions that it should not be the sole, or main, place of residence.
“I personally wouldn’t have a witch-hunt against that,” she said.
The meting heard that council officers do have powers to enforce the conditions, if needed.
Planning agent, Richard Burgess, for the company, said the current situation was “a bit of a muddle” with some parts of the park able to open year-round and other areas forced to close. At the same time other holiday facilities in the area remained open for 365-days a year.
He said that winter usage would be low, possibly down to 10 per cent in some weeks, but it was important to offer people a choice, especially during the winter half-term period, which was currently impossible for some owners, under the current rules.
Mr Burgess, a former senior planning officer, said in more than 30 years dealing with the holiday park, a family business, there had never been problems with unauthorised occupancy and the senior managers did and would carry out regular checks to guard against people using the site as their permanent home.
He said that residents’ complaints about extra traffic and noise were unfounded and the Bowleaze Coveway Road was wide enough to deal with almost any situation.
The case officer for the application had decided that the change to 12-month occupancy for the whole site would not create “a significant adverse impact” for the area.
The company claim there would be benefits for the area with more year-round jobs and more people to take advantage of local shops, pubs, restaurants and other facilities.
Among the objections was a claim that the site would become full-time residential by default, turning the area into “a low grade housing estate” with year-round disturbance.
The council’s growth and economic regeneration team said the general improvement in accommodation standards, reduced opportunities to go abroad and more flexible working patterns have all helped increase the demand for what was previously considered the closed season for holidays.
Their report said that the increases use could bring other benefits to the local economy: “From a tourism and economic development perspective, increasing demand for shoulder and out of season tourism has long been a strategic aim, as it increases tourism revenue, encourages the substitution of seasonal jobs with year-round jobs, and doesn’t put the strain on infrastructure and congestion that peak season demand can bring. The increased demand could justify improved year-round bus services on local routes, improving sustainable transport for residents and workers, too.”